Apple originally considered iPhones with keyboard, click wheel

Former Apple Senior Vice President Tony Fadell, who is credited with the creation of the original iPod, says Apple originally considered iPhone designs with both a physical keyboard and an alternate "iPod+phone" with a click wheel. The comments were part of an interview for an episode of On The Verge, set to debut on Monday afternoon.

Asked if Apple had considered an iPhone design with a physical keyboard, Fadell said it was "definitely discussed."

"It was a heated topic," he noted. At the time, the iPhone's lack of a physical keyboard was one of its most hotly contested features. And though the iPhone's soft keyboard has been successfully transplanted to other smartphone operating systems, some smartphone users still prefer a physical keyboard.

Fadell went on to explain that Apple had pursued three basic design ideas in depth for the iPhone: an "iPod+phone" concept, a QWERTY keyboard design, and a large touchscreen design. Though Fadell was very familiar with touch technology due to his work on the iPod, he was initially skeptical that a touch-based soft keyboard could work as well as a physical one.

"I wanted it to work, because it made sense that you wanted a full screen," Fadell said. That large screen ended up becoming one of the iPhone's iconic features.

"The biggest problem with the 'iPod+phone' [concept] was we had a little screen and this huge hardware wheel," Fadell explained. When then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone in January 2007, he complained that hardware keyboards common on smartphones of the day similarly limited available screen real estate.

If having the larger screen seemed the way to go, however, why bother with the other prototypes, such as the click-wheel-based "iPod+phone? "Sometimes you have to try things and then throw it away," Fadell said.

And of COURSE they "Discussed" the idea, one cannot simlpy design an all-new all-screen interface without DISCUSSING the possibility of using a more traditional input. Likely they discussed offering both as well.

The first smartphone I got was a Samsung Galaxy Epic 4g (Sprint). While it's a great phone, and I use it a bunch and have loaded different roms and apps onto it, I'm looking forward to an upgrade to the Note or Galaxy III in a few months, because the one big mistake I made when purchasing the Epic was thinking that I would hate onscreen keyboards and would need a physical one to type faster and be happy. Now with swype I haven't used the physical keyboard in over a year, so it's just there adding bulk and weight to the phone.

Going without a keyboard was at the time a brave but good choice on Apple's part, and I'm glad it had the effect of pulling a significant amount of the industry in the same direction.

Think about it - Steve jobs himself said that people don't read books anymore - and 1 year later Apple was touting iPad as the next big publishing platform.

They said no to app store before realizing how popular Cydia was. They swallowed their ego and copied Cydia. Now they market App Store (and number of apps it has) as the most important feature of the iPhone.

This was also detailed in the steve jobs biography, not exactly news here.

I agree, and also in more detail including a description of the click-wheel interface that was reminiscent of the faux-ipod+phone slide that Jobs presented at the 2007 unveiling.

However, it is interesting to see color from a different perspective. For example, reading iWoz and the Jobs biography side-by-side presents a fuller picture of what happened. For another example, the John Siracusa review on the "Hypercritical" podcast provided some more color to develop the picture, which I wouldn't have found had Ars not covered it.

On the other hand it would be a stronger article if Ars would highlight the new information relative to what was covered in the Jobs biography, and if the headline were toned down a bit to reflect that this was not the "original" design but a design consideration, as stated in the closing sentence of the article.

I have noticed a lot of comments on Ars lately about headline sensationalism on the news articles. It seems to be becoming a trend. In my opinion it does diminish Ars credibility somewhat. So far at least this has been partly countered by what is still good article content.

This has been making the rounds on all kinds of tech sites over the past week. Like multiple others have said already, why is this even remotely newsworthy? They'd not be doing their jobs properly if they didn't consider all possibilities.

From the last line of the article: "'Sometimes you have to try things and then throw it away,' Fadell said."

Exactly. This happens with every good product/service/finished idea. Ever.

The first smartphone I got was a Samsung Galaxy Epic 4g (Sprint). While it's a great phone, and I use it a bunch and have loaded different roms and apps onto it, I'm looking forward to an upgrade to the Note or Galaxy III in a few months, because the one big mistake I made when purchasing the Epic was thinking that I would hate onscreen keyboards and would need a physical one to type faster and be happy. Now with swype I haven't used the physical keyboard in over a year, so it's just there adding bulk and weight to the phone.

Going without a keyboard was at the time a brave but good choice on Apple's part, and I'm glad it had the effect of pulling a significant amount of the industry in the same direction.

^ THIS

I got rid of mine because I thought the same exact thing. I have an iPhone 4 now, but yeah if I could have had that phone without the physical keyboard, it would have been perfect!

When then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone in January 2007, he complained that hardware keyboards common on smartphones of the day similarly limited available screen real estate.

A portrait keyboard on a candybar phone does limit the size of the screen available (see Blackberry).

A portrait keyboard on a slider phone does not (see Pre).

A landscape keyboard on a slider phone does not, and, in fact, actually provides you with *MORE* usable screen real estate when in landscape mode (see any Android phone with a slide-out keyboard).

Now, I don't know off-hand if any pre-iPhone keyboard phones were landscape sliders (there were plenty of feature phones with landscape clamshell designs with keyboards inside and a second screen for texting while using the keyboard). But it's pretty obvious that there are three ways to add a keyboard to a phone (portrait candybar, portrait slider, landscape slider), so if one layout doesn't work ... try another one.

The fact that Jobs couldn't envision using the phone sideways (landscape) even though that's become the most popular way to use it ... maybe he's not quite the visionary everyone thinks ...

Something like Swype solves a lot of text input issues on smaller touch screens like the iPhone. I'm surprised Apple hasn't bought them out. I use it all the time on my Note and I could never type as fast - even using a mechanical keyboard.

Something like Swype solves a lot of text input issues on smaller touch screens like the iPhone. I'm surprised Apple hasn't bought them out. I use it all the time on my Note and I could never type as fast - even using a mechanical keyboard.

Yeah, I'm sure they're being courted by both Google and Apple at this point.

"he was initially skeptical that a touch-based soft keyboard could work as well as a physical one"

He was right then and he would be right today. The soft keyboard is a compromise. It does not and can not work as well as a physical one. They probably found is good enough and the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, I guess. Not for everybody, though. The same with the lack of a pen. The Note series from Samsung shows there's a good reason to have a pen with certain touchscreen sizes, even if Apple's minimalism forbids its use for the wrong reasons.

A portrait keyboard on a candybar phone does limit the size of the screen available (see Blackberry).

A portrait keyboard on a slider phone does not (see Pre).

A landscape keyboard on a slider phone does not, and, in fact, actually provides you with *MORE* usable screen real estate when in landscape mode (see any Android phone with a slide-out keyboard).

Having a physical sliding keyboard means less space for battery and other necessary hardware, which requires a much thinner logic design, lower heat constraints, etc. Different antenna constraints.

No, it doesn't, if you do it right. You put the logic board in the top-half with the screen. You put the storage, ports, and battery in the bottom-half. Which actually gives you *more* room for the battery, if you lay things out right, and don't try to make the 'world's thinnest slider phone'. (It's okay to have a thick phone, as it's much more comfortable to hold.)

Look at the thickness of the iPhone4/4S. About half of that is from the battery, which wouldn't change size if it was part of a keyboard slider.

Look at the Droid3/4 from Motorola. Not exactly small screens, nor small batteries. Yet they're both sliders.

The first smartphone I got was a Samsung Galaxy Epic 4g (Sprint). While it's a great phone, and I use it a bunch and have loaded different roms and apps onto it, I'm looking forward to an upgrade to the Note or Galaxy III in a few months, because the one big mistake I made when purchasing the Epic was thinking that I would hate onscreen keyboards and would need a physical one to type faster and be happy. Now with swype I haven't used the physical keyboard in over a year, so it's just there adding bulk and weight to the phone.

Going without a keyboard was at the time a brave but good choice on Apple's part, and I'm glad it had the effect of pulling a significant amount of the industry in the same direction.

^ THIS

I got rid of mine because I thought the same exact thing. I have an iPhone 4 now, but yeah if I could have had that phone without the physical keyboard, it would have been perfect!

I honestly have no idea how you guys can think this. The hardware keyboard is SO much better than swype or any of the other soft-keyboards, especially if you work in a field that uses alot of various proper names and shorthand. Oh, but this is only after you upgrade the Epic's firmware and get rid of Samsung's atrocious keyboard timing (one word, missing letters, shame on you samsung), the actual hardware is basically perfect and pretty damn easy on the fingers. Granted, I often have to take notes or make other longer-form documents, so maybe that's what keeps me loving the Epic. By the way, pretty much anybody with the Epic should be rocking the CM9 alpha, it is slick AND stable. I actually can't see upgrading to another phone unless one comes around with another hardware keyboard.

Think about it - Steve jobs himself said that people don't read books anymore - and 1 year later Apple was touting iPad as the next big publishing platform.

They said no to app store before realizing how popular Cydia was. They swallowed their ego and copied Cydia. Now they market App Store (and number of apps it has) as the most important feature of the iPhone.

So, changing your mind and going with what turned out to be the better choice == hypocrisy? I...don't think so!

I just wonder what happens next time 3 prototypes are sitting on the table and Steve isn't there to decide. Will Tim Cook or anyone else have the power to put all the company resources behind one, or will competing people/divisions muddle the process. Most companies answers to these problems is to release multiple products which Apple has avoided giving it the incredible efficiency, economy of scale and profits that it's seeing now.